Nielsen developed the first-ever index to measure real-life sales in drug and retail stores, which subsequently launched the groundbreaking concept of market share-one of the most widely used KPIs for measuring a business’s past and future growth.įlash forward to the present, when retailers and brand makers are contending with a whole new set of challenges that have been unleashed in the omni-gone-wild grocery world.
Nielsen, was building his own forward-looking invention. Interestingly, around the same time Link was tinkering with a device to help nascent pilots anticipate outcomes by mimicking real-life scenarios, NielsenIQ’s founding father, Arthur C. Link’s “Blue Box” prototype simulator-a fuselage-like device equipped with a cockpit, instruments, and controls-was a total game-changer in the field of aviation and went on to become an indispensable part of pilot training programs across the globe. Take for example the first flight simulator, which soared into historical fame courtesy of Edwin Albert Link in the early 1930s. Real-time test and learn models have always been the backbone of discovery and innovation. Where would the world’s greatest inventors be without simulation?
